Recipe Of The Month Lemon Shortbread Cheesecake
Ingredients : 7 ounces Trefoil cookies 2 tablespoons plus 1 tsp . finely grated fresh lemon zest ( from about 3 lemons ), divided 1 cup sugar , divided 12 ounces fresh , mild goat cheese 10 ounce cream cheese 1 1 / 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice , divided 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest 1 / 2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs 8 to 10 medium strawberries , stemmed
Preparation
1 . Preheat oven to 325 °. Crumble cookies into a food processor and pulse until finely ground . In a medium bowl , toss 2 tbsp . lemon zest with 1 1 / 2 tbsp . sugar . Add cookie crumbs and mix well . Butter sides of an 8-in . pan with removable rim and press cookie mixture into bottom ; bake 15 minutes . Remove from oven and let cool in pan .
2 . Lower temperature to 275 °. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment , beat goat cheese and cream cheese until light and fluffy . Add remaining lemon zest , 1 tbsp . lemon juice , the orange zest , 3 / 4 cup sugar , the sour cream , and the vanilla ; beat well . Scrape bowl and add eggs ; beat well .
3 . Pour batter onto crust and bake about 1 hour , or until set on the sides but still quite jiggly in the center and only slightly sticky . Turn oven off , crack oven door , and let cake cool in oven 2 hours . Remove and let cool completely ; then chill , covered , at least 2 hours and up to overnight .
4 . Run a thin knife between cake and rim of pan and remove rim . Thinly slice strawberries , then toss with remaining 2 1 / 2 tbsp . sugar and lemon juice . Arrange on cake .
Makes : 12 servings approximately